And though I sink, my heart still floats
by dragon of colors
Summary: Nitori has fallen for a mer which is the worst thing a selkie could do. After all the relationship between the selkies and mers is less then friendly. Can Rin and Nitori find the happiness they dream of? Either way they're sure as hell going to try.(Rintori, side pairings of MakoHaru) Mermaid and Selkie AU. Mermaid!Rin, Selkie!Nitori


_Let's try this again. The first time I tried posting it didn't quite work._

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><p>The first time they met Nitori was still just a cub. Small and soft, with chubby cheeks, large round eyes, his teeth and nails still dull and practically useless for anything other than eating already softened fish.<p>

It was at a gathering where all the adult selkies would go and talk with adult mers. Nitori didn't think that would be much fun, there were never any other children and all the adults did was talk. Nitori wasn't really interested in listening to lots of big people converse about things he couldn't understand. He knew he wasn't supposed to leave without a grown up but he was so bored and he wouldn't go far, so quietly he snuck away from his grandmothers side. He swam off to play near the edge of the crowds, a little past some seaweed patches and large outcrops of rocks and he discovered a nice secluded place to play.

Nitori happily began to hum as he drew in the sand, minding himself to not be too loud or else he draw the attention of an adult who would predictably drag him back to his grandmama for a scolding and a lecture. He chubby hands were shaky and held the stick in a clumsy fist so his pictures were of course sloppy but he was content.

Until he heard the swish of a tail as well as loud grumbling and cursing. Nitori panicked for a moment fearing it was an adult coming to retrieve him so he hid behind a large patch of seaweed. But instead a young mer swam into view his dark gray tail lashing angrily in the water and cusses spilled from his mouth.

The young boy had a shock of red hair that hadn't been cut like most young boy mers, instead it was long and floated around his head in long crimson tendrils. He had ruby eyes to match his hair and Nitori was fascinated with the other boy he had never seen another mer up close before.

The only time he ever saw mers was at gatherings but he'd never been allowed so close to one. He wasn't sure why but the older selkies were always saying things like "savage" and "dangerous" though Nitori didn't know what that had to do with the mers. At every gathering he'd been to, a total of three at his current age, the other mers had seemed pleasant and friendly.

Nitori's grandmother had always told him not to buy into the nonsense the other elders spouted she always said they just had seashells stuck up their bums, which always made Nitori giggled. Nitori was very glad he had his grandmother, she was very special. She was something his herd called a "peace keeper" a very important job she had told him, she made sure that people solved their problems by being nice instead of by hitting each other. That's why she came to gatherings so she could talk with the mers and their "bridgekeeper" thats what the mers called it. His grandmother explained that a bridgekeeper was the same thing as a peacekeeper they just had different names. That didn't make much sense to Nitori but he nodded anyways.

But this young mer didn't seem like he'd be very nice. He seemed very angry and his sharp teeth snapped and gnashed. Nitori feared if the the other boy caught him he may bite him. But then he stopped and just swayed in the water, his chest heaving and face red. Then Nitori saw the tears as well as smell the extra salt in the water. Nitori found himself feeling bad for the other boy, Nitori hated crying but his grandmother was always there to hold him and stroke his head when he was sad, maybe this boy would like a hug? The young selkie decided it was worth a shot and quietly left the seaweed.

"Why are you sad?" Red eyes shot up and locked with Nitori's own blue ones. The smaller boy froze afraid he'd angered the merboy more. But the redhead only sniffed and dropped his eyes from the selkie, wiping his nose on his hand.

"You shouldn't sneak up on people." Nitori felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment, this boy had a good point. Nitori's grandmother would have given him a good scolding for bad manners. The two floated quietly neither knowing exactly what to say. So instead Nitori took the time to get a better look at the other boy without all the seaweed obscuring his view.

The mer had to be just a few moons older than himself since he wasn't much bigger. He was sorta funny looking, he had ears that had pointed edges instead of rounded ones and his teeth weren't a round sort of sharp like selkies but instead they were more like a razor edge. His tale was also rather befuddling to Nitori, it wasn't a soft furred tail with small flippers at the end but instead sleek and smooth with edged fins at the end.

"Do all mers look as funny as you?" Nitori asked curiously. The redhead blinked in surprise eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. Then he laughed and just gave Nitori a look like he had a suckerfish stuck to his face.

"I don't look funny, you're the weird one." The larger boy swam closer grabbing his ears and pulling on them. "Why are your ears so round?" A small hand cupped his face thumbs running over soft cheeks and barely existent whiskers. "And what are these?" Before he bent over to grab the little flippers of his tail. "How do you even swim with these, there so stubby and small." The other boy teased, Nitori huffed and was about to reply when he caught sight of a fin protruding from the back of the redheads tail and he latched onto it. The red haired merboy yelped.

"What's this?" Nitori asked excitedly ignoring the other boys attempts to wiggle out of his grip. It was the same shade of gray as the rest of the redheads tail and curved outward in a hooked arc. It was really the oddest thing Nitori had ever seen, what could it possibly be for? What purpose could it serve? The mer continued to struggle eventually slipping his fin from Nitori's curious hands.

"Don't pull on that!" He held his hands a over his fin in a protective manner. Teeth bared in obvious form of intimidation but Nitori had seemingly become immune and continued to try to get another glance at the strange appendage. Rin could see he wasn't going to be able to scare the young selkie back into quiet submission and switched tactics.

"How would you like it if I pulled on your-" He abruptly cut off when he found the fin he was searching for wasn't there. This left the young merboy with his arms twisted around the selkie, his hands resting just beneath his bum where he had thought a fin would be.

They gazed at each other for a few minutes before the merboy began to press closer, lowering his head to sniff at the underside of Nitori's chin. Before nuzzling the softness with his nose attempting to press himself closer. Nitori felt warmth spark in his belly before it began to slowly spreading through his body, he wasn't sure exactly what he was feeling but he liked it. He let his head fall back exposing the length of his throat and the larger boy instantly shoved his face against the soft flesh and breathing deeply.

Nitori let himself relax surrounded in the boys scent, a deep spicy smell that also held an underlying hint of sweetness. It made his head fuzzy and tingly but it was so nice, so warm and his body was humming in satisfaction.

Then sharp teeth began to graze over the sensitive skin and it set Nitori's blood on fire. But the young cub didn't panic, too content being surrounded by the strong scent and gentle arms, his instincts whispering that this was perfect.

The redheads teeth made their way higher on his throat nibbling at ticklish flesh before finding the small premature gland just under the selkies ear. Hidden by layers of skin it was nothing more that a practically nonexistent bump that could only be found by smell. He began to lap at it with his tongue and Nitori's entire body shuddered as the gland was played with. Other than small giggles the selkie cub provided no protest and the merboy brought his teeth back to where the smaller boys scent was strongest, teeth bared as he readied to bite.

"GET AWAY FROM HIM!" The screech sent both boys reeling backwards in shock, but not before the redheads teeth embedded in the cubs shoulder instead of their intended quickly pulled apart the odd little spell their scents had cast broken. Nitori's head felt fuzzy and his thoughts were jumbled, the pain from the bite was a dull throb.

A merwoman with bright red hair that matched the merboys wrenched the young mer away from the small selkie. Nitori's mind couldn't quite grasp the situation. The merwoman was shouting and the red haired boy cringed and tried to explain himself but seeing as he didn't fully understand what had just happened either, was failing. Suddenly Nitori's grandmother was there wrapping her arms around him and pulling him away. The last bit he remembered was being in his grandma's arms and staring back over her shoulder at the little merboy who was staring after him and their eyes met and Nitori raised a hand sluggishly and gave a weak wave and the boy offered a weak smile.

7 Years Later

Nitori hid behind a large outcrop of rock staring at the merman just a few feet away. Bright red hair floating around his head as he tied a bunch of slaughtered fish with twine, completely unaware of his audience.

The harp selkie watched with interest, the redhaired merman was one of the few mers who came this far to hunt, sometimes we was accompanied by a small merwoman who Nitori assumed was his sister since they looked so alike, they had the same red hair and eyes as well as matching gray tails. The redheads were sometimes followed by a much bigger mer who had a bluish gray tail speckled with white spots and a white underbelly, the merman himself was large and muscular with dark hair and almost icy blue eyes. Nitori didn't like to observe the redheaded boy when the larger mer was around, it was almost like the dark haired man knew he was there. His eyes almost always landing exactly where the white selkie was hiding. But today it was just the redhaired merman.

Nitori knew he wasn't supposed to go near mers alone, but in his defense he had been there first. This was his favorite spot to lay and warm in the sun, the patch of rock he was currently hiding behind went all the way to the surface and was smooth and perfect for sunbathing. Besides there were always fishes or other small sea creatures that Nitori could snack on if he got hungry. It was quiet and secluded the perfect place to escape Momotaro's endless chatter and Mikoshiba's watchful eyes.

The redhead had come barreling through chasing after a couple of squid, Nitori had been startled and hidden behind the hard stone more so out of reflex than because of fear. Really Nitori should have just swam into view and gone about his business but had been too hesitant to and now if he came out it would be just be too awkward for him to handle. So he stayed hidden at first simply praying the mer would leave soon, but after a while he'd become enraptured and found himself trying to take in every detail.

The merman was undeniably handsome, with a strong well built torso not to mention he really did have an attractive face. His tail should have been strange to Nitori but he found himself enjoying its gentle swaying.

Nitori had seen the mermans tail in action, and had been blown away by the redheads speed and agility. He had easily caught twice what Nitori would have been able too. As the bigger boy had hunted, Nitori had gotten plenty of glimpses of a mouth of sharp white teeth, but even this hadn't deterred his curiosity.

The mer finished his tying and now had a neat bundle of fish and after nodding his satisfaction to himself the mer took off swimming away from Nitori's hiding place. Nitori watched him go, eyes following the bubble trail he'd left behind. Oddly he found a strange sort of hollowness in his chest, it was the same feeling when he thought of his grandmother who had died 3 years ago. A mix between longing and sadness with a hint of loneliness.

"Nitori!" The shout snapped the white selkie out of his thoughts before he could better examine the his feelings. Whipping around Nitori felt like a cub who'd been caught with his hand in the clam jar. Mikoshiba floated a few feet away arms crossed across his broad chest. One orange eyebrow raised, his expression an obvious mask of exasperation.

"Seijuro! I wasn't- You see I was here and he just sort of-!" Nitori's words came out a jumbled mess and he could feel himself sinking into hysteria. Seijuro was obviously not buying any of this and every word out of the white selkies mouth just dragged him deeper into the trouble he was in. Eventually he just sighed and hung his head ready for the scolding.

"Nitori what have I told you about getting to close to mers?" His voice was filled with defeated agitation, the older selkie was just as tired of giving the same lecture as Nitori was receiving it.

"But I-!"

"No Nitori! How many times do we have to go over this?" Seijuro's voice was tight with irritation. "Don't you remember what happened the last time you were left alone with a mer?"

Nitori's hand instinctively shot up to stroke the scar on his left shoulder just hidden by the fluffy white color of fur that grew around his neck. The skin underneath was pink and just slightly elevated in the obvious shape of a bite. In all honestly Nitori barely remembered that day, it was a mess of blurry and faded images and sounds swirling around in his head. Nitori might not have believed that he'd been attacked by a mer if it wasn't for the scar.

But Nitori did remember the months after the supposed attack. The selkie elders had gone practically rabid. Spouting things like 'how dare a mer attack a selkie' and 'such a sweet innocent selkie child being harmed by a barbaric mer' and other such things. Nitori's grandmother had fought desperately to keep the peace, but the selkie's grew fearful and distrustful of the mers. The fragile peace between the two groups had shattered, all because of an accidental little nip.

Seijuro sighed loudly. "Nitori, ever since your grandmother's death I was assigned to be your caretaker and I just don't want to see you get hurt." The larger selkie gazed at Nitori with sad amber eyes and the white selkie felt guilt crash over him.

"I'm sorry Seijuro, I promise I'll be more careful." Nitori spoke honestly feeling terribly that he'd caused his friend such grief. Unable to keep eye contact he looked away, his hands nervously fidgeting by his let out a sigh shaking his head fondly.

"That's all I ask Nitori." He ruffled Nitori's silver hair with a large warm palm. Nitori giggled and smiled happily up at the larger selkie, who returned the smile full force.

Nitori accompanied Seijuro back to where the rest of their herd lived. The selkies lived in a deep crevice, that reached far enough that it met with the sandy ocean floors while still being large and open leaving plenty of room for the younger cubs to play and still be in the safety of the fissure. The rock walls were littered with caves some naturally formed and others made manually by selkies or other sea creatures. For example, a large octopus that lived in one of the caves more respectively known as "Charlie", he was friendly though a bit reclusive, the cubs would make a game to see who could get closest without getting nabbed by one of his long tentacles.

Nitori himself remembered playing when he was younger, before his fur collar had grown in and his face soft and round with baby fat. Charlie had caught him many times, Nitori had never been the fastest pup, but the tentacled creature would only gently wrap one of its long appendages around him before giving him a light shake, the penalty for losing the game, before releasing him

But now as he'd grown up a bit he was no longer quite as fearful of the sea beast, instead he wouldn't hesitate to swim close enough to see dark liquid black eyes staring out from the shadows of the cave, he would often enough offer some part of his latest meal to Charlie who would take it, happily caressing Nitori's cheek with one tentacle while accepting the food with another.

Nitori himself shared a cave with Seijuro and his younger brother Momotarou. Since his grandmother's death and Seijuro becoming the new peacekeeper the Mikoshiba brothers had all but adopted the white selkie. Taking care of him and treating him like family, Seijuro hadn't been pressured into caring for the younger selkie but instead had practically leapt at the offer. He'd happily accepted Nitori as another little brother and Nitori was grateful for everything, even the annoying over protectiveness and lack of privacy that came with it.

The cave the three selkies lived in wasn't the biggest but it wasn't the smallest and Nitori shared a small nest made of seaweed and moss as well as the soft bits fuzz from both of their fur collars and tails, Seijuro slept away from the smaller selkies nearer to the entrance of the cave for both safety and convenience.

As soon as the two selkies entered their cave they were ambushed by Momotarou. The youngest selkie excited and full of energy, curious of where the two had been. Momotarou was covered in bruises and scratches, though the younger boy seemed completely unperturbed by them, Nitori could only guess that that meant Momo had spent the day hunting or exploring. His brown fur was matted and tangled and Nitori resigned himself for a full night of grooming. Now that Nitori was thinking about it, Seijuro's gray spotted tail could also use a good brushing. With a heaving sigh the white selkie prepared himself for the wrestling match he'd need to win to get Momotarou to sit still long enough to groom him.

The next few days passed uneventfully and without a glimpse of a certain red haired merman. Seijuro was busy with his duties as the peacekeeper, leaving Nitori and Momotarou to mind themselves. Though more accurately it was Nitori trying to keep Momotarou out of trouble and more often than not, failing.

And of course it was no different today since Momotarou had claimed he'd overheard rumors or a great place where lots of human objects were abandoned and just left waiting to be claimed. Nitori had tried to distract the otter selkie, tried to keep him entertained but to avail as the larger boy soon just latched onto the white selkies wrist and physically dragged him towards the unexplored destination.

Nitori had of course, fussed the entire way. He'd attempted bargaining and pleading as well as threatening and demanding though all his words fell on the deaf ears of a determined Mikoshiba.

Eventually the almost painful tugging on his wrist ceased though Nitori didn't notice as he was too busy gaping at the enormous desolate reef that lay before them. What once had been a bustling and thriving underwater community was now completely abandoned. The reason for the reefs dilapidated state was more than obvious. Strange objects were strewn all over the former ecosystem, a few sunken ships, fishing nets, and sharp shiny things lay scattered everywhere.

Nitori could feel the knots twisting violently in his stomach he quickly turned to his orange haired friend only to find he was already swimming towards the wreckage. Fear turned to panic and the silver haired selkie took off after the younger Mikoshiba.

"Momo we shouldn't be here!" Nitori grabbed at the otter selkies wrist and tugging it roughly, but Momotarou simply wrenched it free of the older boys grasp.

"Hang on, I just wanna look around a little bit." He swum forward eyes shooting excitedly from one strange object to the next. Unaware of his friends fear, Nitori swimming had slowed leaving him to lag behind the orange haired selkie. He wrung his hands nervously eyes darting left and right waiting for something terrible to occur.

Minutes went by and as no horrendous creature burst out of nowhere to eat them or a crazed mer jumped out to beat them senseless, Nitori found himself slowly relaxing. His eyes began to examine the foreign trinkets surrounding them, his curiosity beginning to grow. The urge to touch and feel the strange objects was becoming harder and harder to suppress, afterall Momotarou had touched several of the odd objects already and nothing terrible had happened.

Then something shiny caught the white selkies eye, turning to look at it more fully he found himself gazing at a necklace of some sort, though it was made of a material Nitori wasn't familiar with. Not seaweed or seashells instead it was a beautiful gold color, much like when the sun was setting and it danced on the calm waters and it was made of something else. Nitori found himself reaching out and picking up the odd piece of jewelry before he could stop himself.

It was a heavy and cold weight in his palm, it shimmered when he held it to the light a deep blue gem was infused against it making a lovely pendant, Nitori longed to slip it over his head. For a moment he pondered, maybe he could wear it. Just for a moment then he'd take it off again, not like anyone had to know. Momotarou voice broke through his thoughts and Nitori shook himself.

"Nitori come look at this!"

Nitori glanced at the necklace once more before letting it slowly slip through his fingers and sink back to the sandy reef floor. He turned and swam towards where he'd heard Momotarou calling. He found the younger selkie inside a small fishing ship, part of the hull entirely ripped off leaving an easy entrance and exit, the broken hull was balanced just on the edge of the reef. The orange haired selkie was currently swimming around inside happily exploring the entirety of the ship and satisfying his curiosity, completely unperturbed by the creaking and groaning of the unstable ship.

"Momo be careful." Nitori called fear creeping down his spine, he didn't like being this close to all those nets. But Momotarou only laughed in response.

"It's fine Nitori, come and see it's so weird!" His voice echoed through the hollow shell of the ship and Nitori could see him through some of the upper windows of the ship. Slowly he inched his way inside of the ship, most of the items inside were long gone, rusting beyond belief, or broken in such a way that made them completely unrecognizable. The only thing that really remained was a large fishing net that had gotten caught on the broken edges of the metal hull and now hung from the sealing. It swayed in the water and Nitori stayed as far from it as he could, skating the edges of ship as he attempted to head towards the stairwell where Momotarou had disappeared.

Suddenly the entire ship gave a huge creak and groan and began to tilt throwing Nitori backwards with a yelp. For a few moments Nitori was thrown without any control until he felt his back hit the suspended net. His fin and arms quickly became tangled as he flailed in panic, he twisted and writhed all the while whimpering.

"Nitori! Oh god, Nitori! Hang on I'll get you out." Nitori could hear Momotarou's frightened calls but the ship was still tilting dangerously. The thought of Momotarou being placed in danger helped the white selkie snap out of his panicked haze.

"No! No Momo you have to go get help!" Nitori shouted. Momotarou's reply was instantaneous.

"I'm not going to just leave you here!" The anger and indignation in the younger selkies voice caused a spark of warmth in Nitori's belly.

"Momo you can't help me all by yourself, if anything you'll just get us both hurt or killed. Just go get help, it's not like it can get any worse." As if on cue the ship groaned and rocked again this time tilting forward and slamming back into the sandy bank the of the reef in turn slamming the net, and by extent Nitori, into the hard metal wall of the ship. The ship toppled to its side, swiftly cutting off access to the previous entrance and once again smashing Nitori into another solid side of the boat. Stars danced across the white selkies vision as his head ached from the impact.

"Nitori! Are you okay?!" Momotarou's voice was thick with worry and anxiety. Nitori tried to clear his head enough to respond but everything was so fuzzy and words seemed to complex.

"Oh god! Oh no, Nitori don't worry! I'm going to get help I'll be right back, please don't be dead!" Nitori tried to call out to reassure the younger selkie but his tongue felt so heavy in his mouth and darkness was climbing the edges of his vision.

Nitori was unsure how much time had passed, it felt like decades. He was so tired and sleep sounded like such a nice idea. There were sounds outside the ship, voices then a loud creak, maybe Momotarou had come back. If that was true then he was safe and everything was going to be fine. Nitori felt his eyelids growing heavier with each passing moment. There was a voice and a flash of red and then Nitori felt himself fade from consciousness.

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><p><em>Hopefully you guys enjoyed, I don't know if I'll be continuing this series, if you want more please let me know! <em>


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